Of all the Texas Tropical Trail Region outings, Kingsville certainly made a long-lasting impression, mind, heart, and soul when we visited the Missionary Daughters’ Solemn Place of Prayer and learned about Venerable Julia Navarrete, known also as Julia of the Thorns of the Sacred Heart, though more lovingly regarded as “Mother Julia.”

Then: December 21, 2010

Sister Maxie, spokesperson for the Missionary Daughters of the Most Pure Virgin Mary (MDPVM) congregation, was all smiles with stories to tell and a dream to share.

With the assistance of community activists like Maggie Salinas, Sister Maxie and the Missionary Daughters hoped to restore the original school house where their foundress, Mother Julia, generously invested her gifts and talents, time and love to spiritually nurture South Texas residents in our Catholic faith.

We were inspired!

Growing curiosity

As years passed, my need to know grew stronger and stronger. How is the school house restoration progressing? Did they get the funding they so desperately sought? Who’s helping them? So many questions and no one to ask.

Again and again, I kept telling Steven, “I want to go back. I have to see how they’re doing.” But, mostly, I wanted to hear more stories from Sister Maxie.

Then, late October 2015, an article in the Corpus Christi Caller-Times really piqued my curiosity. Mother Julia’s museum was to open to the public in November!

Now: April 2, 2016

Of course, life is funny. Time passes. We forget. We don’t have time. Then, just like that, everything falls into place just because.

Driving north from Brownsville on Highway 77, we took an unexpected detour, drove up and down streets in search of the restaurant where we’d eaten more than five years ago, and settled on a new place instead for an early afternoon lunch.

“Do you think we can we look for the Missionary Daughters’ Solemn Place of Prayer afterwards?” I asked even before we got off the vehicle.

“Yes.”

And, wouldn’t you know it? By the time we got back in the vehicle, I’d forgotten.

But Steven hadn’t!

So off we went with great anticipation. And, oh, my!

The Sisters’ dream had indeed come true!

Prayer from the Friars of the Capuchin Franciscan Province of St. Joseph (2016: 1061)

Grant us, Lord God, a vision of your world as your love would have it: A world where the weak are protected and none go hungry or poor, a world where the riches of creation are shared and everyone can enjoy them, a world where different races and cultures live in harmony and mutual respect, a world where peace is built with justice and justice is guided by love. Give us the inspiration and courage to build it through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

April 3, 2016

Act in such a way that all those who come in contact with you will go away joyful. Sow happiness about you because you have received much from God; give, then, generously to others. They should take leave of you with their hearts filled with joy, even if they have no more than touched the hem of your garment (St. Maria Faustina Kowalska).

April 4, 2016

Then, overcome by joy, I cried, “Jesus, my love. At last I have found my vocation. My vocation is love. In the heart of the Church, my mother, I will be love; and then I will be all things” (St. Thérèse de Lisieux).

April 5, 2016

If you truly want to help the soul of your neighbor, you should approach God first with all your heart. Ask him simply to fill you with charity, the greatest of all virtues; with it you can accomplish what you desire (St. Vincent Ferrer).

April 9, 2016

“If we wish to make any progress in the service of God, we must begin every day of our life with new ardor” (St. Charles Borromeo).

On Valentine’s Day 2009, Junebug and Gary (left) and the lovely Ning and Sam joined us for a special dinner. And, as usual, “the gang”— our family through Why Catholic? at St. Paul’s in Flour Bluff— had a fantabulous time!

Junebug’s prompting

That evening Junebug excitedly told us about visiting a chapel with the Legion of Mary. She didn’t recall its name or much else other than having been (and still is) in awe of all the relics there. “You just have to go see it! It’s such a special place!” Junebug remarked, adding that she’d never known about relics until then.

“I know just what you mean!” I said. “I didn’t know anything about relics until I received mine from Father Roderick. And I treasured them until I gave them away. Thanks so much for telling me about the chapel! I’ll have to visit to take photos for my blog.”

Elusive treasure

Junebug’s exuberant insistence that I “visit the chapel out by the Lexington” stayed with me until May of last year. That’s when, in driving around trying to locate it, I accidentally stumbled across the small, well-kept chapel on the corner of who knows where in the vicinity of the USS Lexington.

Yet, within moments my joy downgraded a couple of degrees. Our Lady Star by the Sea was locked, and no one was at its adjacent office.

To further dampen my enthusiasm, I’d forgotten my Coolpix; so I had to rely on my antiquated cell phone to photograph the chapel’s exterior. Not a good idea at all, I found out later, ’cause I couldn’t email the photos to my Yahoo account.

Still, things worked out fine. I learned the name of the chapel and its location, so the visit wasn’t a total loss.

Now it’s just a matter of attending weekend Mass, Saturday at five-thirty or Sunday at nine, so I can finally see the relics that catapulted Junebug into OMG mode.

Shared keepsakes

Like Junebug, I’d never known about holy relics until— surprise, surprise— I received two third-class St. Anthony relics in the mail from Father Roderick, head of Franciscan Mission Associates (FMA) at the time.

A relic is an object or a personal item of religious significance, carefully preserved with an air of veneration as a tangible memorial…. A third-class relic is any object that is touched to a first- or second-class relic. Most third-class relics are small pieces of cloth (Wikipedia, 2011).

“Relics refer to the body tissues of saints, items worn or used by them, and things that have come in contact with the originals” (Father James G. Ward, CM in the Association of the Miraculous Medal Bulletin, October 2010, p. 3).

The veneration of relics, most strictly the material remains of a saint or holy person after his death, has a long tradition in the Catholic Church…. St. Thomas Aquinas would explain that the relics “excite to love.” It is really the saint who is being honored, and the relic assists the giving of that honor through both a visible sign and a physical link with the saint (St. Anthony Shrine, 2009).

I treasured my two St. Anthony relics but eventually gave them away to a couple of acquaintances whose life stories were filled with such despair that I thought the relics would give them hope.

By then Father Robert had become director of FMA, so I wrote him a letter requesting another relic and— wouldn’t you know it— he sent two that I carried with me, knowing I’d give them away as well.

St. Anthony chaplets

August, 2010, I gifted my two relics to Sabrina (left) and Ruth (right) with a note in the St. Anthony booklet that I created specially for them.

Segy, our youngest, has always said, “The best gifts are those I want so very badly to keep but give away instead.”

In 1998, I wrote to Father Robert at Franciscan Mission Associates.

In 1985, Father Roderick sent me two St. Anthony relics. But, over the years, as I met others in great need, I gave them away. And now that I don’t have one, I feel empty. So may I please have another relic?

And I was surprised, just as I’d been the first time, to receive not one but two. But, even though I’ve treasured my two relics all this time, I’ve always wondered when the time would come that I’d have to part with them again as before.

Looking through my Companion Prayers booklet on July 22nd, I suddenly took note of the St. Anthony chaplet prayers and the Miraculous Responsory for the first time. I’d added the latter to my “St. Anthony” post, but it just hadn’t registered till that moment.

I decided to customize a chaplet just right for me and attach not a regular medal, but the St. Anthony relic I’d carried around all these years.

Then I had an epiphany.

Since I had a second relic still in its original little bag I thought, Ruth and Sabrina! I’ll bead three identical chaplets, place the relics on theirs, and use a different St. Anthony medal on mine. I’ll write to Father Robert again and request another relic for my chaplet. Hopefully, he’ll send two.

Sooo… On Tuesday, July 23rd, I began using the chaplets. I’ve taken turns with each one so that, when you pray on your own, you’ll know I’m praying with you, too.

Heart’s desire

I have to admit that it was very difficult to part with my last two
St. Anthony relics. In fact, that’s what kept me from beading the chaplets sooner. God knew how I felt, though.

Right when I was having serious qualms about giving them away, I received a perfectly timed relic prayer card in the mail from FMA.

In the days that followed I internalized what I’ve experienced before: God always knows and provides just what we need (Matthew 6:8).

Hold your eyes on God and leave the doing to him. That is all the doing you have to worry about (St. Jane Frances de Chantal).

Holy relics

How amazing that, since finding Our Lady Star by the Sea and gifting my St. Anthony relics, I’ve become aware of other holy relics: St. Elizabeth Seton’s at Sacred Heart Church in Nacogdoches, Venerable Margaret Parigot’s on Sister’s prayer card from the Flower of Carmel Monastery in Australia, St. Peregrine’s through Father Ralph at Stella Maris in Lamar, and Venerable Julia Navarrete’s through Sister Maxie at the Missionary Daughters’ Solemn Place of Prayer in Kingsville. Then, as a very special gift from the Anthonians in November, I received a seventy-five minute video commemorating the exhibition of St. Anthony’s remains at the Basilica in Padua, Italy.

So I have to wonder…

Has parting with my treasured St. Anthony relics helped me find more along the way?

May 13, 2011

Joyfully, I received Venerable Father Casey’s relic badge, which I showed Junebug at Michael’s Confirmation. I’ll be ordering another to surprise her with, as I think it’ll make her day.

September 13, 2011

Wow! How amazing is it to find right here on my computer desk exactly what I’ve wanted for months? To think that I’ve had St. Jude’s relic for a very long time and didn’t even know it till this morning.

Will wonders never cease!

October 4, 2011

I just received a letter from Franciscan Mission Associates in time for All Souls Day. Father Primo has replaced Father Robert, who served for the past fifteen years. I guess it’s time to write that letter I’ve been putting off and wish Father Robert well on the next chapter in his book of life.

Steven and I drove to Stella Maris for the second time, and we arrived early enough to converse with Father Ralph before evening Mass. I asked if he had his St. Peregrine first-class relic, and he did! What a thrilling experience to hold it and pray for his intercession.

January 22, 2012

I went by Mary Ellen’s house to drop off both her St. Anthony relic chaplet and her Child Jesus chaplet, and she showed me the third-class relic she has of the nun who founded the Incarnate Word Order. I didn’t have my camera with me, so I’ll take a photo another time.

April 8, 2012

I finally got the chance to take the photos of Mary Ellen’s third-class relic of Venerable Jeanne Chézard de Matel (1596-1670), foundress of the Incarnate Word (IWBS) Order.

Oh, happy day!

April 29, 2012

“Be careful what you wish for” certainly comes to mind, only in a good way this time.

On revisiting the Dominican Shrine of Saint Jude Thaddeus at St. Pius V in Chicago, I discovered a treasure overlooked in the past. St. Jude’s first-class relic! His arm!

July 2, 2012

What unexpected surprises! St. Teresa of Avila relics from Sister in Australia!

September 29, 2012

From Sister, timely St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus treasures received for October 1st!

January 13, 2013

Steven and I visited the Tepeyac Shrine in San Antonio for the second time and discovered that the Grotto Sanctuary has a first-class relic: Part of St. Eugene de Mazenod’s heart!

February 10, 2013

This morning Steven fell out as a Knight of Columbus participating in the veneration of José Sánchez del Río’s first-class relic at Immaculate Conception Church in Taft, TX. Ten o’clock Mass was followed, first, by a procession around the neighborhood and then by visits to the front of the altar to spend one-on-one time in prayer with the relic.

Worth noting is that Joselito died eighty-five years ago today.

June 14-16, 2013

When Steven learned that Father Mario from the Basilica of St. Anthony in Padua, Italy would be in Rockford, IL, he quickly made plans for us to attend Mass and the veneration of St. Anthony’s first-class relics at St. Anthony of Padua Church. And we had a phenomenal time!

Father Mario captivated all of us with wonderful stories about St. Anthony and gifted many present with relics touched to St. Anthony’s tongue. In the photo on the left, the reliquary in the forefront holds tissue from inside St. Anthony’s cheek; the one on the altar, part of his floating rib.

Before Father Mario retired for the evening, he did something totally unexpected: He blessedSteven and me with the small reliquary!

We were so taken with Father Mario that I wanted to bring him home with us, but he has places to go and people to see. Building community within God’s kingdom is what traveling with St. Anthony is all about, so they’re off to Great Britain next.

The following morning, despite the pounding rain and the heavy traffic, we made our way back to Chicago where we not only spent time at the Dominican Shrine of St. Jude at St. Pius V (like last year), but also visited the Claretian National Shrine of St. Jude at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church.

Then we drove to Detroit where we attended nine o’clock Mass at St. Bonaventure Church on Sunday and delighted in the Solanus Casey Center the entire day.

What an extraordinary experience!

July 1, 2013

Oh, happy day! St. Pio’s relic! Thank you, Sister dearest!

November 21, 2013

Surprise, surprise! In today’s mail, I received a treasure trove from our niece.

Found this [tiny, old envelope]. Thought of you. Not sure what it is, but you will know. Love you. Sue

Um, yes! Not one, but two relic badges of then Servant of God, now Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos who needs only one more step to reach sainthood.

After a brief period of parish ministry in Detroit, Michigan, he was assigned in 1866 to the Redemptorist community in New Orleans, Louisiana. Here also, as pastor of the Church of St. Mary of the Assumption, he was known as a pastor who was joyously available to his faithful and singularly concerned for the poorest and the most abandoned. However, his ministry in New Orleans was destined to be brief. In September of that year, exhausted from visiting and caring for victims of yellow fever, he contracted the disease. After several weeks, he died on October 4, 1867, at the age of forty-eight years and nine months (Wikipedia, 2013).

March 28, 2014

Hip hip hooray! An unexpected St. Anthony relic from the Anthonians!

April 18, 2014

Thanks to Diana at Franciscan Mission Associates for expeditiously sending me not just the lovely relic for Sid’s St. Anthony chaplet, but also the prayer card! Sidney Davis, whom we met at the Solanus Casey Center last week, loved his priceless treasures!

May 24, 2014

Thanks to Father Thomas Franks, OFM-Cap for St. Pio’s precious relic! The Shrine of St. Pio of Pietrelcina is located at the Church of St. John the Baptist in New York City. (The address is on “Credits” page.)

October 11, 2014

Thanks again, Father Tom, for the wonderful relic cards from St. Pio’s shrine!

November 9, 2015

“For even now miracles are wrought in the name of Christ, whether by his sacraments or by the prayers or relics of his saints” (St. Augustine).

December 21, 2010, the Texas Tropical Trail Region (TTTR) hosted its monthly meeting in Kingsville— for me, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity— that we wouldn’t have missed for anything, not even the high fever I’d been running since the night before.

Invitation

A real saint from South Texas?

After lunch we will visit the only convent in Kingsville/Kleberg County, the Convent of the Missionary Daughters of the Most Pure Virgin Mary, founded in 1916 by the late Mother Julia Navarrete Guerrero.

Mother Julia was born in Oaxaca, Mexico, in 1881, and joined the church at 19. She left her home at the height of the Mexican Revolution when, in some areas, it was forbidden to celebrate Mass. At the request of her home diocese, she came to Texas and started her ministry in a one-room house on Richard Avenue that was purchased from King Ranch founder, Richard King.

Her mission was to educate the children and minister to the adults. Mother Julia died in 1974 at the age of 93.

In 2004, Pope John Paul II proclaimed Mother Julia venerable, the second of four steps on the way to sainthood. She was nominated for the honor by her holy order, which is based in Mexico, though much of her work was in Kingsville (Nancy Deviney, TTTR Kingsville Partner Event, December 2010).

A worthwhile cause

During lunch guest speaker Maggie Salinas, charter member of the Kleberg County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and Chairman of Kingsville’s Historical Development Board, shared the story behind her lifelong commitment to help the Missionary Daughters of the Most Pure Virgin Mary (MDPVM) preserve the convent founded by the Venerable Mother Julia Navarrete.

So, after lunch, we drove to 408 East Richard Avenue where Sister Maxie shared the history of her religious order and invited us into the newly renovated chapel.

The rest of the story

The best part of the tour for Steven and me was when everyone else departed for the presentation at the King Ranch Museum, and we had Sister Maxie all to ourselves.

I told Sister that, from the time we’d read about the day’s upcoming events, our anticipation had crescendoed at the prospect of not only seeing the chapel, but also learning all we could about a saint in waiting in our own South Texas community.

Sister Maxie spoke glowingly and compassionately about Mother Julia’s numerous accomplishments— founding their Order and establishing more than forty-five convents in Mexico and the United States— and the Venerable Mother’s long, terrible illness, respectively.

Sister Maxie nursed Mother Julia through the ordeal and was greatly inspired by the Venerable Mother’s spirituality and resilience. The doctors would prescribe all the wrong treatments, seriously compounding her physical suffering; but Mother Julia never complained. Instead, she bore the pain with patience and resolve until her death.

Mother Julia’s legacy

The number of nuns at the old convent has dwindled due to age and illness, so Sister Maxie lovingly takes care of all of them as she did Mother Julia. She also juggles a busy schedule that includes driving the Sisters to their doctors’ appointments and managing countless obligations that encompass both the restoration of the original schoolhouse that has been moved across from the chapel and the preservation of the old convent.

Thanks to community supporters like Maggie who have embraced Mother Julia’s legacy, the Missionary Daughters of the Most Pure Virgin Mary can dedicate themselves to more divine aspirations— “the treasure of [Mother Julia’s] spirituality and a profound devotion to the Holy Spirit, to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and to the most Pure Virgin Mary” (MDPVM, 1983)— while others labor to prepare for the big day ahead.

Saint-in-waiting

Of course, canonization is a lengthy process which can take decades; so everyone familiar with Mother Julia is spreading the word. If you pray for her intercession, as did the gardener and his wife on behalf of their daughter, please report favors granted to the Missionary Daughters. (Refer to the prayer card above.)

Treasured relic

In the meantime, Sister Maxie continues to keep Mother Julia close to her heart through a very personal relic. Sister’s crucifix has a bloodstain from the time that Mother Julia was gravely ill.

Momentous blessing

Being so in awe of holy relics, I felt specially privileged to have been invited to touch— and will always remember— that very personal connection to Mother Julia. But I was beyond moved to have been encouraged to kiss the crucifix and share in the love of Mother Julia’s congregation.

And I’m doing my part to share the story so that the Venerable Julia Navarrete becomes a saint in my lifetime.

Think of it. A saint from our culture, our time, our very own South Texas community.